Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Today a Little Red Riding Hood came through our neighborhood calling for a cat. Lee picked up the Witch-cat and sure enough it was her cat. The cats real name is Seraphim! Anyway she wanted to make sure that her cats were inside tonight. Nice to know where the cat is supposed to be!

So today I spent time making a crocheted butterfly. It was difficult because it was a written pattern. But it was interesting because I had never done a pineapple pattern with three double crochet groups inside the pineapple. I finished the wings but I am not sure about the body. Anyway it was an interesting challenge.

October will be over in a few hours and Nanowrimo will begin. I may stay up but I doubt it. Need to get back to my crocheted doll.

The silly cat with a squeak has been finally named the Witch-cat of Angmar! She continues her reign of terror against us and we feel great fear at her squeaks. She has continued to stalk us all and she still appears out of no where and tries to take us down to the ground so she can be scratched! Her will dominates us all and we know that we are under her rule!Our poor little cat is so paranoid she spends most of the day inside now. She has been finding hiding places all over the house just in case the Witch-cat gets inside. She now naps on top of the highest book shelf on top of a box. She can hit her head on the ceiling if she tries to sit up. I haven't been out watering like I have in the past. Every time I go out the Witch-cat tries to knock me over or sits on my feet so I can't move. She even growls if I stop scratching her. So Lee does the watering now and the cat and I hide inside.Every time I try to put food in the outdoor bowl she appears from no where. It is disconcerting to have a 35 pound cat suddenly trying to knock you down so she can get inside! But I think I know where the Witch-cat is hiding. The house is on a small hill and the ground is reinforced with banks. The neighbor's closest to the side door have a standard fence but it is on top of the bank making it about 10 feet high. The Witch-cat is hiding on the fence and leaps down to the bank and then straight at me! The only thing I can do is close the door to keep from being attacked!Today I got up late and let our cat inside through the front door. She complained and wanted her head scratched. She will sit in the hall until I scratch her head! So she came in the kitchen with me and before she eats she always looks out the side door to make sure the Witch-cat isn't there. Then I opened the door to put out some food and next thing I knew the cat food was flying in the air and the Witch-cat was inside. I stepped between the cats and then did something completely out of character, I screamed! I started making Aht Aht Aht sounds in a high pitched voice. This confused the Witch-cat, she seemed a bit afraid and started looking around for danger. Then she turned around and ran out of the house! My heart was trying to find a way out of my chest and I sat down. Which ever neighbor takes care of the Witch-cat I wish that they spent more time with her so she won't keep trying to bend her powers over us and make us slaves to her will!

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Tried a more advanced quilling project that was difficult. The snowflake only had two types of shapes, marquise and s scroll. The first shape I am getting better at but the s scroll is challenging. The s scroll had a larger and smaller end and it was difficult to know when they were the right size. So I tried counting the turns on each side and then letting them relax so they had an open scroll shape. The problem was in getting the shapes glued. I would try and hold the glued shape closed but the energy of the curve kept popping the scroll open again. I wasted quite a few pieces of quilling paper but finally finished the snowflake. The s scrolls formed a heart shape and a marquise is glued to the top and bottom of the hearts and then the bottom marquise glued together on their sides forming a circle of marquises. Two of the hearts were not quite right but I am still learning. I'm beginning to wonder if this is beyond my abilities. The rest of the day I spent dropping things if I didn't concentrate on holding on. But I did get one small box of clear crystals separated by AB, size and shape and restrung on cotton cord. The crystals kept trying to allude me but I won in the end! I guess I will see if I get back to the doll tomorrow or have the will to quill!

Monday, October 29, 2012

Finished my first quilling project and started another. The first just used simple shapes formed into flowers. Not very good but it was good practise.

Quilled flowers.

Close up of quilling.

The project was meant for beginners I felt very challenged by it. The second project has scrolls which are a lot more delicate and difficult to shape. Gluing them makes the quilling paper soft. I have destroyed several scrolls tonight. Quilling takes a lot of practise and patience. I keep trying to manipulate the paper that is still weak from gluing. I tried using very little glue but that doesn't seem to work. It will just take some more trial and error before I understand it. Think I will do something different tomorrow!

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Last night every time I tried to hold something it would fall out of my hands. Remembering where I just put something down was driving me crazy. When I couldn't remember where I put a 8 inch doll needle that was it! That big a needle is dangerous and you would think it would be easy to find! So I started to reread a series by Julie Kaewert. When I started the series I had read the last book first and the first book last. So now I am reading them in the proper order! The main character is legally blind without his glasses so I can understand that. The character also has thousands of books and owns a publishing company. The books are called "A Booklover's Mystery" and all the titles start with UN. The first book is Unsolicited. It is a really good mystery series!I did get the Kanzashi
Flower finished and made it into a hair clip. The second petal row is made with a small checked gingham fabric and the size 6 pearlized off white seed beads are sew to the center. The beads cover the petal ends and also help prevent raveling.

Kanzashi flower hair bow.

Also I started practising quilling. I can't find my quilling tool so it is quite a bit harder without it. The quilling board is a bit tricky to use but I'm sure it will get easier. The book I'm using is called "The Book of Paper Quilling, Techniques and Projects for Paper Filigree" by Malinda Johnston. So far the quilled shapes are coming out alright but without the quilling tool the centers are a bit large. It took more than 10 minutes to make the first marquise. But I am slowly getting faster. It just takes determination and patience.

Saturday, October 27, 2012

I thought that I would post early today because I have some pictures! Just keep forgetting to buy a new memory card for the camera. This will be a catch up post of some forgotten projects.First I really love the Kanzashi flower tool by Clover. After looking at youtube for instructions I wandered into making Kanzashi without a tool. Very fascinating and not as difficult to make the petals as the flower looks. Yesterday evening I just didn't feel like working on the crocheted doll. So I made petals with the Kanzashi tool. But I twisted the petals so they look more like ribbon petals.

Kanzashi tool flower.

This will save on buying ribbons because I can now use any lightweight fabric! They really look like bits of ribbon. The only downside is that the petals are to thick and short to make a stemmed flower. I plan on buying the larger tool to see if that will work. I'm thrilled because this will give me a much larger color range too. I've started a second row of petals using some of the pink gingham fabric. Next thing you know I will be getting out my button box and making matching button! I am so crazy!

Crocheted peacock.

Closeup of peacock.

The peacock has been on hold, I was looking for the goldstone for the eye. I think it is rather silly and cute. The peacock had been sewn to the background fabric. Just needs some embroidery and maybe fabric paint and it will make a good cover for a needle case.

Pleated Gingham.

Finally I have been working on the smocked ornament. The fabric isn't enough to cover the ornament ball so I may need to buy smaller balls. Slowly I am getting the fabric organized. Since the fabric is to small when pleated I may just use this as a practise piece instead of buying smaller balls. Still can't figure out how this will work, the instructions for the ornament aren't that good. So I guess it will take some trial and error. Or maybe I will make it into a second needle case cover, I have hundreds of needles that I keep with different needle arts. It makes sense to put needles with each project. But sometimes I think of putting them in one place like my sewing box. But then mountcraft will have a landslide and bury it!

I have been organizing the beads. Just rough sorting them by color first. My bag of clear crystals and white beads weighted out at 4 pounds 5 ounces! That is not counting one box I have separate. Just can't get the courage to sort them into size and type. I have gotten the beads out of the drawers so I can roll them into the craft area. It would be great to get the beads out of the bedroom. It would give us room for another book shelf. Maybe I could just start by sorting out the AB finish crystals.

Think I will try some quilling before getting back to the doll. Hope you all have a nice evening full of crafting!

Friday, October 26, 2012

The crocheted doll is coming along slowly. The arms are finished and I should be able to complete one leg tonight. The pattern is quite easy, it is just working the crochet rows of 12 sc. It is just making my hands work in such a tight tube for the legs. So I took a break and have been playing with the new Clover petal tool. I found some light weight satin which I purchased at the dollar fabric store in Solvang. The satin is working into a really pretty rose. Instead of working with the instructions I am folding back the edges and then folding the bottom of the petals and shaping them like a ribbon rose. I am considering using the flower in a ribbon flower necklace. The necklace would be choker length with different flower techniques and even some pearls. It should be very pretty when I'm done.

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Today I started making a crocheted doll by Sue Pendleton. I got the pattern years ago and have never made it. When I found all of the colorful threads in my stash I decided to make the doll at last. It takes several colors to finish. I hope to get it done tomorrow with a little luck. So far I have the main body finished and just need to make the arms and legs. Sue Pendleton has an Etsy page with many cute patterns for sale. Her jar covers are really cute, unfortunately this doll is not offered.

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Went to Beverly's today and turned in the Altrusa Christmas ornaments. My friend liked them and really liked the crocheted teacup. One of the reasons going to Beverly's today was to get some off white and pink thread to make more teacups. I lost the ball of pink thread in back of the dresser and it meant a lot of work to free it. But Beverly's didn't have any pink thread and didn't even have any Halloween colors! So I pushed out some stuff and looked for some thread that was stored in the closet. I had forgotten what an extensive stash I still have. I found several balls of Garden thread which is wonderful thread and comes in great colors. So I was looking through some old patterns and found a really cute doll to make with thread! So that may be my next project.

While getting to the thread I found a purple blouse, it had been missing. It is a sheer blouse with a camisole the same color. It is screaming to have some shadow embroidery on it. I was thinking of decorating the camisole with ribbon embroidery and the shadow embroidery to match on the blouses shoulders. So it is a good thing I bought a new ribbonwork book "Ribbonwork Gardens" by Christen Brown. It has a lot of flowers and different techniques. The book pulls together a lot of different flowers so it is great if you are just starting ribbonwork.

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Two Saturday's ago it was really hot and I went off to Beverly's to find out what ornaments we were making for the Altrusa tree. I had fun but before I got home I had two seizures. So I rested and worked on the tree ornament. I was also trying to keep up with my blog but it has really been hard. In fact I have written this entry and accidentally erased it. That is why I haven't been posting everyday. My brain isn't working to well.

So last week I spent time making ornaments it gave me something to concentrate on and accomplish. Last Wednesday I had to go out to get medicine and get approval of the ornaments but my friend wasn't there. It was in the high 90s and that finished me. So then I needed more rest so I worked on even more ornaments and then just stopped trying to blog. Friday I went out again to show the ornaments and got approval. Another hot day! So I took a break from everything.

So today I am trying to get back to things. The weather has dropped 30 degrees and we even had rain last night! So that helps a lot.

Over the past week I made a cone ornament using some scraps of pink lace and added a border of silver beads and silk ribbons. Then I filled it with ribbon candy and hard peppermints made out of felt. To top it off I made a poinsettia out of small scraps of felt!

Cone Ornament.

Top of cone Ornament.

Then I made a three sided drop ornament. The ornament is made of felt that is layered and has a silk ribbon rose in the center. It needs some more work but I'm not sure what to add. It is also a bit large for the tree, it is only a 4 foot tree. So my friend said not to make any more ornaments, I've made enough to fill the tree. But I look at it that the more ornaments the better the selection. I also believe the ornaments should have a great variety. Who wants the same ornaments on the tree. So I will probably keep making ornaments until the tree goes up in November.

Three sided drop ornament.

Crocheted basket ornament.

The basket ornament is from the book "50 Pineapple Crochet Motifs" on page 40. It was lucky that the crochet thread matched the pink felt so well. The ornament still needs to be blocked and starched. Using the off white felt I made a lining for the basket. The handle will also need some reinforcing with beading wire. And some more felt flowers.

Crocheted teacup ornament.

Another view of cup.

The teacup is from a pattern in "Crocheted with Heart" April 1998 page 33. The cup is actually small so I may adjust the pattern to make a bigger ornament. First though I need to find some off white thread. Can't have one ornament white while the others are off white.

Here are the other ornaments finished.

Dressmaker dummy ornaments made from Jim Holtz die cut.

Heart ornament.

Heart ornament made with die cuts.

Kitty ornament. Rather silly looking.

Off white kitty ornament.

Pink teapot with silver lined seed beads and silk ribbon rose.

White teapot with pink daisies.

I hope that someone will like the tree enough to bid lots of money on it! If anyone has a idea or comment I would appreciate any help.

Almost forgot, I made a hat last night. I took the off white felt that I was making ornaments from and built a hat. Using math Lee figured out how big a circle to use. Then I added an inch for ease and a lining. I sewed a 6 x 11 and 6 x12 piece of felt together with a little 1/4 inch overlap on each end, this was the hat band. Then I cut out an 8 inch circle. Next I sewed the circle to the 6 x 23 inch felt. I used doubled thread and sewed it tightly forming a ridge. Once the hat was together I folded the 6 inch band up inside the hat so the band was now 3 inches. I had at first just wanted to make a prototype of a hat but when it was together I though why not decorate it. So I took less then a quarter yard from a black lace bolt I bought and covered the hat. First I covered the band leaving a half inch over hang at the top and wrapped the lace down and then up into the hat. It was difficult to sew it so I just tacked it inside to the hat top every inch or so. Then I cut out another hat top out of felt and ran a running thread around a lace circle. After placing the lace together with the felt I sewed it into the hat through the top. Finally I took a lace circle and sewed it to the hat top. This was all hand stitched, I don't know if it could be done on a sewing machine. It came out cute. It cost $1.50 to make, so that made it even better!

Friday, October 19, 2012

Today the heat finally broke and a sea breeze brought in a fog. Life is back to normal here.

Went to Beverly's and the ornaments were liked so I only have to make 2 more! I made a cone using some scraps of pink lace and added silver beads and silk ribbons. Then I filled it with ribbon candy and hard peppermints made out of felt. With a little luck I will be able to get pictures of all the ornaments tomorrow. Just a egg shaped drop ornament and one cone and I will get back to other projects. I hope that someone will like the ornaments enough to bid lots of money on the tree!

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Slowly the ornaments are getting finished for Altrusa. Today I made am ornament from the book "Fa la la la felt". The beaded Tassel Drop on page 40. It wasn't very hard but it took me a long time for the beaded blanket edging. Tomorrow I will take the ornaments to Beverly's and see what they think. Hopefully they will like them.

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Yesterday I was going out but it was warm so I postponed until today and it was 96 degrees! I could not believe it could be so warm in October. But we both survived the trip to town! Went to Michael's and as usual I couldn't find what I wanted but they did have a new Clover tool, Kanzashi Flower Maker. The tool was rather easy to figure out just follow the numbers. But when they say light weight fabrics they really mean it. Even some satin I used produced a thick petal. I can see where the petals won't make the same kind of flowers as I've been making but they are really cute. To make sure I was doing it right I went to youtube and saw several videos. Watching the Kanzashi videos not using the Clover tool made it look easy. So I will have to try making a flower with and without the Clover tool.Then I went to Beverly's and bought some gingham to make into smocked ornaments. Finally got the stuffing and started stuffing the ornaments for Altrusa. Now I can finish them and get back to work on the Fall roses.Hopefully I will have some pictures of the flowers tomorrow.

Monday, October 15, 2012

Yesterday I made three ornaments. Today I made a kitty and another teapot and I am working on a fan design. The fan looks to be very time consuming so it may not make the tree. I think that there should be 3 or 4 of each type of ornament but each slightly different. The fan I'm working on has a lot of gold couched threads. In other words it takes a lot of work. I could also make some snowflakes in crochet, I certainly have enough patterns. But the pattern I really would love to see is the padded hanger, lots of poof and sparkle! I have crocheted little teacups. Once I made a crocheted tea cup with little mice and another with little baby blocks inside. The baby one may have been for my oldest niece. That gives me lots of patterns to look for but it might be easier to do it on the fly.

The last of the off white ribbon is sitting over night in a tangerine dye bath. I'm hoping to get some pale orange ribbons for the fall ribbon roses. Well back to the ornaments.

Sunday, October 14, 2012

A pretty pink felt heart embroidered with two shades of pink floss using french knots, back stitch, chain and detached chain, and button hole stitches.

Saturday I bought felt for making ornaments for the Altrusa Christmas tree. I don't really like making ornaments out of felt but it is easier to embroider then non felted fabrics. The tree colors are pale pink and off-white and I am struggling to decorate the ornaments without green! Flowers need leaves! So far I have almost finished a teapot and heart ornaments. They still need to be stuffed and I have nothing to fill them with. It has been fun using different stitches. The other ornaments I need to make are gloves and a kitty. Using the die cut by Jim Holtz I am trying to make a dressmakers dummy. We will see if they are approved this week, if not I can give them as gifts. We still haven't gotten a new memory card for the camera so I don't have pictures. Hopefully tomorrow that will be taken care of and I will post some pictures. Took the risk of putting the memory card in my main computer. Hopefully plastic bits don't get stuck in it!

Die cut from a Jim Holtz die. Off white felt with pink and off white floss. The stitches used were running, buttonhole, detached chain and spider rose.

They look good to me! The dressmaker's dummy is adorable. The bottom was a bit tricky to button hole so I may cut the ends off on the next one. The tea pots are a bit wonky but I like them that way. The teapot with the seed beads took a while to make. That is why the second tea pot doesn't have beads! This tree is going to be really pretty!

I didn't take pictures of what I made yesterday so I will need to be brave again!

Saturday, October 13, 2012

Last night around 9:00 I had an overwhelming desire to dye some ribbon. The choices were cocoa brown, cocoa brown, fuchsia or black. Since I had two browns it won. I can't even remember what I bought the brown dye for but I suspect it was to dye some muslin. So I used 2 cups of hot water 1/2 cup salt, a dye package, 2 yards of 1 1/2 inch ribbon and 3 yards of 1 inch ribbon. Then let the mess sit for 12 hours. After rinsing the ribbon out it looks like a ribbon that has seen to much sunlight and is a faded brown. The brown ribbon may not be pretty enough on it's own but it might be nice for a random petal here and there.

Finished three row brown ribbon rose.

Another view of brown ribbon rose.

Last evening I also went through and calculated how much ribbon it took to do a 3 row rose and then 4 row rose. The 3 row rose takes 8.5 inches of 1 inch ribbon for row 1. Row 2 takes 12 inches of 1 inch ribbon. Row 3 takes at most 21 inches of 1 1/2 inch ribbon. That makes up to 6 petals on row 3. Row 4 takes between 20 inches and 28 inches of 1 1/2 inch ribbon. So that last row really is eating up the ribbon.

The 4th row is eating about 2 feet of ribbon alone. So I may only make 3 rows flowers. Small but I think they look better.Today I also went to Beverly's to meet up with friends. We talked about the Altrusa tree and what the decorations will be like. A lot of soft pink with a Victorian feel to it. So I am determined to make several ornaments. Tonight I am looking for some ideas and even patterns for a swan ornament. Hopefully I find one and don't have to draw my own! When I came home I made a brown 3 row rose, with luck tomorrow will be more productive.

Friday, October 12, 2012

Who would make ribbon roses without some French Beaded Flowers thrown in? FBF is an even more obscure craft then ribbonwork. Several years ago I purchased "More French-Beaded Flowers" by Dalene Kelly. Her designs are so beautiful. Unfortunately many of the examples of FBF are really ugly so I was happy to see her designs. I even bought her first book through her site, www.beadedflowerpatterns.com, she also offers individual patterns. So I collected many hanks of beads to make beautiful flowers but today was the first time I made something. The ribbon roses needed a filler and I couldn't find a way to make Queen Anne's Lace out of ribbons. So I remembered the downloaded file and thought I would try! The flower looked easier then it was to make. The first issue was that I couldn't find white beads so I decided to try it with silver. It isn't a hard pattern exactly it is getting used to making beaded loops and making them tight enough so the beads don't move. It took a lot more strength and I even used a smaller gauge wire. So my hands are demanding some rest tonight! With some changes I think the FBF will work as a lovely filler.

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Today I did not dye ribbon! I thought about it but they objected! So instead I worked on making flowers out of the ribbon that I had dyed the last few days. I can usually manage one rose a day, but have made 3 in 2 days!

The golden ribbon made a really beautiful rose. But the petals being all one shade made it a tiny bit dull. The green glass beads add a bit of interest. I am considering shading it with fabric markers.

Sunny yellow dyed polyester ribbon rose.

The wine colored ribbon did come out two slightly different shades and that gave it more depth. I used a pearl center and in the last row added some petals that had a pink to green shading. Very pretty rose.

Wine dyed polyester ribbon rose.

Last night I took some Fabric paint in Berry Wine and painted the wine dyed ribbon in streaks using a chenille stem. For the u-gather center I streaked some off-white ribbon. In the last row I added some simple wine colored petals. It made a pretty striped rose.

Berry Wine fabric painted polyester ribbon.

Wine dyed and berry wine striped polyester ribbon rose.

Coiled rose.

Also I was able to make a coiled rose! It was easy once I thought it out. The center should have more gathering using small stitches and as it is worked down the ribbon the stitches get longer making it less gathered. Before I had not used enough ribbon so the effect was strange, It will make a beautiful rose on a hat or maybe my black jacket.

The computer and the camera are not speaking and a black piece of plastic fell out of the computer. So no pictures tonight. Knowing my luck Nessie will come to the side door and eat the cats. And I won't be able to post a picture!

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Today I went out to Beverly's and showed the paper flower bouquet I had made. I got some really great suggestions on how to make it look better. I also bought some more Rit Dye in wine color this time. The last dyed ribbons looks great but I want some more variations in color. So I also bought a Fabrico marker. The marker seems great but it wasn't the same color inside as the cap color. So I will have to use it for something else.

So when I got home I dissolved the wine colored dye in two cups of very hot water and added a 1/2 cup of salt. Then I put 1/2 pound of polyester ribbon in and made sure it was well covered. After an hour I pulled out the ribbon and rinsed it well. After it was dry I was really surprised by the color it was a darkish dusty rose color. But again polyester doesn't respond well to dyes. Also I am not going to use the ribbon on anything that needs to be washed, it most likely will run.

Then I decided to make all the petals for a rose and I put them in the remaining dye and left it for 5 hours. So far the second try is coming out a lot lighter which gives me more options for the flowers. At this rate I will need to buy some more 1 1/2 inch off white ribbon! It has been really interesting using dye but I am thinking of using the fabric paint again. Well I will see how well the ribbons works tomorrow.

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

The dye was calling my name today. I've been buying Rit dye for at least a year and not doing anything with it. So I took a packet of sunny yellow a little bit of salt and 2 cups of water and 8 oz of ribbon. The ribbon sat in a measuring cup for 3 hrs. I kept stirring it every half hour. Afterwards I rinsed the ribbon out and then put it in clean water with salt. After rinsing the salt water out I let the ribbon dry and then ironed it.

Drying ribbon.

Dyed ribbon next to undyed.

The ribbon came out a lovely golden yellow. Polyester doesn't take dye well so I am really pleased with the results. So I started a golden rose. It should be lovely when it is finished.